Leading businesses, NGOs and other luminaries from Cornwall's vibrant food sector attended the second all-partners workshop on the circular economy held at Exeter University's Penryn campus.

As with the first workshop (held last month at the university's Streatham campus) attendees enjoyed a keynote address from a high profile parliamentarian - in this case George Eustice, MP for Camborne and Redruth and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Farming, Food and the Marine Environment. Fresh from a trade trip to the United Arab Emirates, Mr Eustice highlighted the international reputation of the region's food and drinks industry: "There's an explosion of interest in the Cornish pasty." He also stressed the importance of engineering skills for the UK food manufacturing sector and sought to alleviate concerns about the post-Brexit future.

Dr Lydia Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia of Exeter University's Centre for Water Systems discusses the importance of ecosystem services assessment and systems thinking

The event, held at the Environment and Sustainability Institute, Penryn, on Friday 3 March 2017, then saw Professor Steffen Boehm and his interdisciplinary team of researchers outline plans for their two-year research project funded by the EPSRC.

"The UK food and beverages manufacturing sector is larger than aerospace and automotive combined." George Eustice highlights the significance of the industry.

Among those attending were Phil Ugalde of Proper Cornish, Mark Norton of Prima Bakeries, Matthew Thomson of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Cornwall restaurant group, Phil Le Grice and Angie Shepherd of Duchy College and David Rodda of the Cornwall Development Company.

The research team will now start working directly with a range of small and medium-sized SW dairy and bakery manufacturers on how they might adopting circular economy principles. Food businesses interested in learning how to get involved should email Dan Eatherley: d.eatherley@exeter.ac.uk .

Ginsters, BV Dairies, Quicke's Cheese and Emma's Bread were among a diverse audience of leading dairy and bakery businesses, NGOs and academics from across the South West at the inaugural all-partners workshop on food and the circular economy.

The keynote address, given by Neil Parish, MP for Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, highlighted the vital importance of the food and drink industry for the region and offered insights into the possible direction of UK agricultural policy post-Brexit. Put simply, the food production and processing sector will have to fight harder than ever to survive and prosper from 2020.

So what exactly IS the circular economy and why does it matter to the food industry? Project leader Professor Steffen Boehm offers some answers.

The event - held at the Innovation Centre, University of Exeter, on Friday 10 February 2017 - saw the principal investigator Professor Steffen Boehm introduce the concept of the circular economy and the overall aims and objectives of the Food and Circular Economy SW research project.

Professor Mickey Howard, an expert in supply chain management, discusses research methods at the all-partners workshop.

A series of short presentations about the research methods to be adopted were then delivered by key project researchers : Professor Mickey Howard, Dr Navonil Mustafee and Dr Lydia Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia. The event was chaired by another team member, Professor Matt Lobley, Director of the Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute (LEEP) at the University of Exeter.

Dr Navonil Mustafee outlines the modelling and simulation approach he will take to testing new circular business models.

The workshop concluded with a short team exercise, facilitated by Professor Howard, in which industry participants were invited to rank in order of relevance to their business a range of circular business models. Among the key messages emerging were the importance of product shelf-life extension, transport efficiency and new product design.

A further similar workshop will be held for Cornwall-based bakery and dairy processors at the University of Exeter's Penryn campus on 3 March 2017. Food businesses interested in attending should email Dan Eatherley: d.eatherley@exeter.ac.uk .

George Eustice, MP for Camborne and Redruth and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Farming, Food and the Marine Environment, will give the keynote address at the second of our inaugural all-partners project workshops, to be held in Penryn on Friday 3 March 2017.

To raise awareness of our work and to help boost its impact across the region and beyond, in the New Year we will be holding two free events for our industrial partners. We are delighted to announce that two MPs have agreed to deliver a short keynote speech at each event. While our focus is on SMEs we would welcome businesses of all sizes within the bakery and dairy sectors.

Some more details:

The Exeter event will be held on Friday 10 February 2017 at the Innovation Centre, University of Exeter, Rennes Drive, Exeter EX4 4RN. Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton and Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, will give the keynote address.

The Penryn event will be held on Friday 3 March 2017 at Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI), University of Exeter Penryn campus, Cornwall, TR10 9FE. George Eustice, MP for Camborne and Redruth and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Farming, Food and the Marine Environment, will give the keynote address.

Each event (for up to 50 attendees) will kick off with a free buffet lunch and networking at 12.45pm, followed by the keynote speech at 2pm. The project leader Professor Steffen Boehm will update participants on progress so far, giving a short introduction to the circular economy and why it is relevant to the food and drink sector now. Participants will be invited to undertake a mapping workshop and practical activity to offer a sense of the project and analytical tools we will be using. We would also look to explore new collaborations within the sector (i.e. beyond the immediate EPSRC project). We expect the events to finish at 4pm. Should a representative from your business be interested in attending one of these events, please email the organiser Dan Eatherley d.eatherley@exeter.ac.uk who will send an Eventbrite invitation.

We are delighted to announce that Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton and Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, will be giving the keynote address at our inaugural all-partners project workshop to be held in Exeter on Friday 10 February 2017.